HCMC – Due to a public uproar over a proposed single power price for household consumers, the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) now wants to withdraw it from the draft electricity retail pricing amendment scheme.
Speaking at a meeting chaired by Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh on August 18, Nguyen Anh Tuan, head of the authority under the minister, said that the advantage of Solutions 2A and 2B is that they allow customers to choose whether to pay their bills based on five levels of progressive pricing or a single price.
However, the single-price solution does not encourage customers to save power as the price is too high for average consumers, while the Government is calling for power savings, Tuoi Tre Online reported.
It is necessary to continue to gather feedback on the five levels of prices under progressive pricing for electricity consumption to ensure customers can benefit, he added.
Minister Anh said that residents have voiced their concerns and outcries over the planned single price solution as all customers—whether they consume less or more power—would be unfairly subject to the same price.
Apart from this, the requirements for saving electricity and using power effectively and welfare policies will not be guaranteed if the new single price proposal is approved, so the single price solution needs further consideration, Nguoi Lao Dong Online reported, citing Minister Anh.
Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade had presented two solutions to calculate electricity bills, including slashing the number of price levels under progressive pricing from six to five and at the same time applying a single price.
According to the second solution, customers can choose to calculate their power bills based on progressive pricing or a single price, which is equivalent to 145% for Solution 2A or 155% for Solution 2B of the average electricity retail price at some VND1,864 per kWh.
